


darling, so it goes

by Notawriterjustalurker



Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Piano, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:22:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24592975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Notawriterjustalurker/pseuds/Notawriterjustalurker
Summary: Hell's Kitchen has always been an incessantly busy place. Nothing is ever peaceful. Nothing ever stops. Except when it does.Karen learns that Matt can play the piano
Relationships: Matt Murdock/Karen Page
Comments: 11
Kudos: 38





	darling, so it goes

**Author's Note:**

> "We have a word for that in Japanese - if I clap my hands, the gap between each clap is called, 'Ma'. It is emptiness - breathing space. Without it, all you have is busyness." - Hayao Miyazaki, writer and animator, (studio Ghibli)
> 
> A random source of inspiration I used for this fic. Beauty in the mundane I guess is what I'm going for here, and oh it's so fluffy.  
> Also a shout out to Lily-Ellison because I totally stole your song suggestion 😂  
> Hope you enjoy.

The last time Karen had seen a storm like this she was probably back home in Vermont. She'd certainly never seen rain water gushing in rivers down the curb sides of Hell's Kitchen before, especially when the tormented sky above showed no sign of let up, even after several long hours had already passed.

Luckily for them, the taxi was dropping them right outside, meaning they only had to brave it for a few seconds at best.

She swung the car door open, Matt following her and quickly huddling to her side as he opened an umbrella over her head.

Karen reached her knuckles out from under relative dryness, her sleeve already dampening, thankfully the woman on the other side of the door answered quickly, "Ms Williams, hi. It's me, Karen - we spoke a few days ago about your grandson?"

_ " _ Oh, Karen! Yes!" The woman exclaimed, "oh deary, look at this weather. Please, come in, come in."

"Thank you -" Karen said, dragging Matt with her by the crook of his arm, "wow it's awful out there isn't it," she chuckled, and Karen was already stripping her coat from her shoulders, the grey haired woman helping to drag it from her arms and tiptoeing to hook it onto the ornate coat hanger by the door. 

"Ms Williams, how rude of me," Karen flustered, helping Matt with his coat while simultaneously dragging damp hair away from her face, "this is my business partner Matthew. Matthew Murdock - He's the lawyer I talked about the other day, he's handling Jacob's case."

The woman took a good long look at Matt from her stout position of at least 4"11. Even taking the time to adjust her glasses and squint at the sight of him - suited and dashing, his soggy hair flopping slightly over his eyes - and she found that old women never did bother to make it subtle when they found Matt outwardly attractive and she could hardly say she was in a position to disagree.

"Mr Murdock. Thank you so much for everything you're doing. My dear boy didn't do any of the things those people are saying he did. I really don't know what's going on. It's all just -"

"I believe you Ms Williams. And we believe your grandson. We're going to do the absolute best we can to help. Me and Karen just need to get to the bottom of a few things first."

"Of course dear, anything you need. Come and sit," Ms Williams was keen to coax them deeper into her house where they would probably meet their end, drowning in a sea of inescapable 'tea & biscuits' or whatever it was British people tended to do with their guests. But as much as that was tempting, they didn't have time. They were here for a reason.

"Ms Williams," Karen's soft but disarming voice was enough to distract the wiry haired woman from her pilgrimage to the living room, "you said Jacob stayed here sometimes while he was in town?" 

She stopped and turned back,"why yes. Never was one for settling down. I'd put him up in the spare room upstairs, although they're all spare now. I don't get much use out of this old lump of a house," she tutted but smiled sweetly.

"And you don't know of any other places that he might have spent time in while in New York?" 

"No, I can't think of any dear."

Karen gave Matt a look. 

"You mind if we take a look around? - well, mainly Karen that is," Matt corrected himself in his most charming lawyer voice. 

The woman giggled, "oh dear."

"Bad choice of words Ms Williams," he grinned and Karen rolled her eyes, "we're trying to piece together something he told us. It's important that -"

"Oh of course!" The woman interrupted, Matt already aware that he had her well and truly wrapped about his finger, "explore all you like, it's the second room on the left, the one with the piano. You can't miss it."

"Thank you," Karen added.

"If you need me I'll be in the kitchen finishing these cookies," the woman shuffled off down the hall in her neat little child-sized slippers, grabbing her discarded cooking apron from the hook on the door and tying it nibbley around her waist as she went. Karen could see why Jacob liked to stay here. Cookies,  _ and _ tea? Ms Williams fit firmly into the category of, grandma everybody wished they had.

"Peanut butter."

Karen was pulled briefly from her thoughts at the sound of and Matt's nose wrinkling as he mumbled something behind her.

"What?"

"The cookies. Peanut butter flavour -" 

Karen smiled and shook her head. Show off. 

As they made their way up the curved staircase to the upper floor Karen found herself becoming more and more awestruck by the surprising beauty of the house. She'd seen many lavish homes during her time spent as a reporter but she'd never seen anything quite like this. It looked like something more akin to a English 13th century manor than anything you would find in a townhouse in the middle of the city. 

She would probably describe it as having an eclectic mix of furnishings - some antique, some modern, bits of personality everywhere, bits of history. And as they reached the top of the landing Karen started to hear the slow creeping tick of the grandfather clock that was standing tall like a watchful guardian at the far end of the corridor.

"The one with the piano.." Karen whispered back to herself, Matt's hand on her waist as she found her bearings at the top of the stairs. Matt had folded his cane away now they were out of view from Ms Williams and he was walking around freely, reaching out to touch surfaces here and there with gentle interest.

"Here," Karen said.

The room was huge. Karen guessed that it must have originally been a study rather than a bedroom as the bed itself looked miss placed, saddened and lonely in the corner while everything else looked as though it had been there since the beginning of time itself.

On the wall to Karen's left was a tall bookshelf. It ran all the way along the wall until it came to meet another doorway at the far end, to what she assumed must be another adjoining room or a bathroom. 

Being here gave her that same peaceful comfort you might find in a quiet library, the sounds of everything, even her own voice, buffered against walls and walls of endless pages.

She found her fingers running along the spines, hard-backed and unmoving, she trailed along the never ending bumpy line of them, taking in the titles as she went - 'Jane Eyre' 'Pride & Prejudice', 'Sense and Sensibility,' - clearly Ms Williams was a fan of her period pieces.

"Do you think if I pull one of these it'll open a secret door?" 

Matt chuckled, "feels like that kind of place doesn't it?"

Matt was exploring too, running his hands over drawers and boxes, sensing if what was inside was of any use to them. On his side of the room there was a windowsill lined with various trinkets, more books and paper, little ornaments, and the rain was coming in at such an angle that the large panes of glass were almost opaque, appearing to rattle in their frames under the relentless pressure. 

"Where would he hide something he wouldn't want anyone to find?" Karen sighed, talking to herself again, her fingers coming to rest on an ornate wooden box shoved haphazardly between two large hardback copies of Fellowship of the Ring and, Return of the King by J.R.R Tolkien.

"That's weird. There's a book missing." Maybe this old house was getting Karen in the right frame of mind for mystery solving -

"Hey Matt, is Jacob a fan of fantasy novels?"

"Can't say I've asked," he said distractedly.

She could really do with Matt's help here - she had no clue what she was meant to be looking for. This was all his idea. To come mooching through his clients hideout - he'd gotten the idea in his head that Jacob had something he shouldn't have. That's why 'bad people' as he put it, were so adamant getting him put him in jail, not unlike what had happened to Karen when she'd kept the pendrive containing the corrupt Union Allied files.

But when Karen had turned to get Matt's attention she found him at the far end of the room standing by the piano, running his fingers through the fine layer of dust that had layed like an ancient snow across its lid.

"Matt? What is it?"

"I think this is an expensive piano," he said simply.

"It is?"

"Worth thousands probably."

"Wow. Erm. Okay, do you think there's something hidden in there?" Maybe he was on to something - maybe the stupid little box in her hand was just a stupid little box or the book was just missing and the secret they were looking for was stashed cleverly inside an expensive piano. 

"No, I don't think so."

"Oh."

But then she watched him bend his knees, sliding into the gap between the stool and the keyboard and lightly perching there - 

"Wait - do you play?" She said as her little heart suddenly started racing with a school girl excitement.

"Ah I learned a little in church."

Karen's mouth hung open as she placed the box on the table next to her, "you never told me," she said, dumbfounded.

"I'm allowed to have some secrets Karen," he smirked as he tapped a key lightly. The soft sound resonating through thick dusty air.

"Play something," Karen moved towards him, unable to hide her enchantment any longer.

"Miss Williams might think me a bit weird if she finds her grandson's lawyer serenading you on her piano."

"You want to serenade me?" she smiled excitedly.

"You know what I mean." 

" _ Please _ Matt," she fluttered her eyelashes in a way she knew he couldn't resist. She'd known him long enough to know what made him weak.

And he almost looked a little nervous as she watched him shift until he was comfortable on the stool, taking a moment to scratch his nose before positioning his hands lightly over the keys. Karen could tell he was self taught, he didn't have that rigid posture she'd seen in professional players (not that she was an expert) but he was definitely more relaxed, loose, more about the feeling than the technique. And it was then she noticed that she'd been watching him so closely, that she'd completely forgotten to breathe.

"You're making me nervous," Matt smiled shyly, clearly sensing her tension.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," she flapped her hands giggily, shaking off some of her fascination and moving back to a more comfortable distance, finding her thighs coming to rest on the arm of an old Chesterfield.

He took a deep breath and let it out in a soft sigh, steadying himself, a little smile breaking out on his lips, his head twitching as Karen's heart thundering surprisingly loudly against her chest.

He strummed the first few keys, laying one hand, and then the other, notes coming together, the stiff, otherwise, completely inanimate object suddenly coming to life with sound, as if it was grateful to have someone finally find it's purpose again. 

Karen had known the song from the first note. It had brought a lump to her throat within seconds. The room was no more quiet than it had been before, except that somehow it was - there was a stillness now, like time itself had ceased, like if she stepped back outside into the corridor she'd find the hands of the grandfather clock jittering at a few seconds before 3pm, never actually reaching the hour. 

The four walls around them were acting like a time capsule, the steady drum of rain pulsing against the window enough to drown out the background noise of the city - at least, enough for Karen. And then at the heart of it, in the middle of their bubble, was Matt - sitting peacefully, focused, swaying, fingers dancing. 

The world could be crumbling for all she knew and she'd still be here - watching, enchanted. 

He let every note ring out naturally, his fingers gentle - she knew Matt didn't like loud music, his ears were too sensitive. So it only made sense that he would play with such tenderness. 

Karen let the lyrics of the second verse trail through her mind as he went

_ Like a river flows ~ _

_ surely to the sea ~ _

And she have must been squeezing her throat around the words, because Matt's head twitched again and he smiled with creases at his eyes, knowing that she was following along with him -

_ Take my hand take my whole life too _

_ For I can't help ~ _

_ falling in love with _ you ~

There was a distant rumble of thunder then, another wave of a storm closing in, and he was moving towards the last few notes, slowing to produce almost no sound at all - his fingers so skillful and full of passion - she craved to have them on her. God, she was so in love with him.

His foot came to rest on the peddle and the remaining whisper was plucked from the air to meet the encore of rain at the window. 

"Matt," she swallowed softly, blinking away tears, "that was .." 

"For you. Karen," He said simply. 

But then there was a clapping sound, enough to turn both their heads sharply towards the door behind them where there stood a wiry haired woman holding a plate of peanut butter cookies. 

How had Matt not heard her?

"We're sorry Miss Williams it's -"

"Don't apologize. I heard playing. And I couldn't resist. I'm the one who's sorry, no one's played that old thing in years. It was beautiful."

"Oh - thank you," Matt said, blushing.

The woman stepped into the room and slid the plate down on to the table by the book shelf, "I don't know if I should say but - "

"What?" Karen asked curiously.

"Well. It's just.. it's a shame. He can't see - how you look at him."

Karen felt herself flush and her eyes widen, "oh."

"Most men will never have a woman look at them like that in their lifetimes."

"Miss Williams.."

"You are truly rich, Mr Murdock," she smiled, and she began her shuffle, back out the way she came.

"Karen", Matt whispered, "she's right you know." 

"Stop it," Karen hushed him, turning to gather herself. She was blushing and tears were wetting her face and this was absolutely not what she signed up for today.

"Okay, Miss Page, if you're sure," Matt bit back a smile and squeezed her shoulder, he secretly loved seeing her like this - a bright pink puddle with emotions. 

"Look on the bright side, at least you didn't call me what Foggy called me."

Karen sniffled, "what did Foggy call you?"

Matt exhaled and adjusted his glasses, "Stevie Wonder." 

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this listening to rain sounds and honestly I think it helped so much 😂


End file.
